“that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and gaining all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ,”

Paul is seeking to comfort the hearts of the people of God, so that they are bound together in love and devotion to each other, as well as the Lord. We cannot get very far without Christian fellowship and the bond of face-to-face filial love that we share for each other. It is very challenging to have to be alone, as the Apostle Paul is finding in his prison situation. 

As Christian people we seek and need the understanding about God, who He is and what His purposes are in this world and in the world to come. We need to know the assurance that we belong to Christ and that His word is the centre of our lives and our daily bread. We must know about the Father God and also the Lord Jesus Christ, who Paul is showing to the Christians in this letter. 

As we grow in grace and in the maturity of Christian assurance, our knowledge of God and our Saviour, Jesus also grows, and we will understand the Word of God more clearly and deeply. As we walk with the Lord, we rejoice to know Him and that His fellowship is with us in our lives. This is the way of the Christian’s assurance. As we grow in Him, our confidence also goes and we make progress in holiness.